Planting Rights : First Show of Strength in Brussels

On March 19th, 9 Agriculture Ministers and more than 350 members of the national and European Parliament and of the wine sector met at the European Parliament in Brussels to call for planting rights to be maintained. Opposition to the liberalisation of planting rights scheduled for the 1st of January 2016 continues to grow, notably within the political sphere. Nine Agriculture Ministers (France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary; Luxembourg, Malta, Roumania and Finland) and more than 350 MEPs, MPs and representatives of the wine sector joined forces to ask the European Commission to come back on the 2008 decision. “We welcome the recent opening gestures of the Commission but we need more. The creation of a high level group on the topic is positive but the 19th of March event demonstrates the importance of the challenges that we face and the need for a swift response on this issue”, stated Ricardo Ricci Curbastro, Président of EFOW. The event was organised by MEPs Astrid Lulling and Michel Dantin, and brought together a number of other elected representatives from different political parties. The European Parliament which has co-decision power on agriculture related matters is committed to make its voice heard. Michel Dantin, rapporteur on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the Single Common Market Organisation (CMO) announced that he will table an amendment to reintroduce planting rights in his report. Representatives of the wine sector welcomed the commitment and voluntarism of the Ministers and other decision-makers. “It is crucial to preserve planting rights for all wines in the context of the CAP reform. We need more than just a discussion and await a concrete decision in the coming months”, stated Ricardo Ricci Curbastro, Président of EFOW.